Japan Travel Tips & Hidden Gems
Despite my initial qualms, I somehow ended up caving and graciously accepted the offer on the table. I guess you can chalk it up to the fact that Japan will be hosting several important and major events in the coming…
As I sit down to write this, I’m many kilometers up in the sky aboard a Finnair flight bound for Helsinki. For the next few days, I’ll dutifully be escorting a group of Japanese journalists around the Finnish capital. While…
As those intrepid adventurers who have braved the journey already know, northern Japan is a wonder unto itself. This final frontier is home to an amazing assortment of rich culture and local folklore. Of the north’s allures though, perhaps nothing…
Warning: This post is NOT safe for work! — Donny Kimball “What the HELL am I doing?!?!” I asked myself, looking around at my bizarre surroundings. To my immediate right, a Japanese gentleman was enjoying the sight of his wife…
It’s the middle of August right now and that means I have family from back home visiting (not that I can really refer to the United States by that moniker anymore). Seeing as I have to escort them around while…
These days, almost all overseas visitors to Japan are aware of the many allures of Tochigi Prefecture’s Nikko region. Of course, chief among these is none other than the famed site enshrining Tokugawa Ieyasu, Nikko Toshogu Shrine. This ornate shrine…
Lately, I have oddly been bombarded with questions on social media regarding what types of equipment one should bring along when visiting Japan. Honestly, this is one of those topics that you would think has been covered to death by…
It was an early weekday morning and I was on my way to a client meeting. Since I was completely out of cash again, I figured that I ought to fix things with the few spare minutes I had to…
I say this quite often on social media, but one of the things I like most about living in Tokyo is the fact that the city offers endless opportunities for discovery. You see, you could literally spend an entire lifetime…
For those few intrepid individuals who opt to traverse the many wonders of northern Japan, the city of Sendai can be said to be the final bastion of metropolitan life before an endless bucolic countryside expanse. While there are certainly…
Alright, I’m going to be frank and state that I just really don’t have the free time required to pump out a Japan area guide this week. While I wish this weren’t the case, life occasionally has a way of…
In the early summer of 2018, the world tragically lost the American celebrity chef, author, and travel documentarian Anthony Bourdain. In the time since his baffling suicide, I have often brooded on how a man who seemingly had everything could…
I’d like to welcome you back to yet another installment of my Japan area guides. As always, we’ll be going quite deep so that you, the reader, can get the maximum enjoyment out of what Japan has to offer. In this…
Oh boy… I can already anticipate the negative backlash I am going to get from this one. You see, at least when it comes to international relations, Yasukuni Shrine is about as touchy a subject as they come. For those…
Let’s face it. Saitama gets a pretty bad rap. Known to many Tokyoites as little more than a lame bedroom community for the capital, the prefecture is rarely something that foreign tourists even consider visiting. As a big fan of…